Haiti bears witness to an upheaval. It was an unusual assassination of the country’s President, Jovenel Moïse, who was killed in a shootout with security forces at his residence in Port-au-Prince, faintly recalling the killing by Army officers of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and part of his immediate family in Dhaka on 15 August 1975. Mr Moïse (53) was fatally shot and his wife was injured when attackers stormed their home early on Wednesday.

First Lady Martine Moïse survived and has been flown to Florida where she is receiving treatment.

Four people suspected of assassinating the President were killed in a shootout with security forces. While President Biden offered condolences to the people of Haiti for the “horrific assassination”, Britain’s Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has called it “an abhorrent act” and also appealed for calm.

Clearly, an assassination in relatively obscure Haiti has caused a flutter in the international roost. Interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph called for calm and has declared a nationwide state of emergency, also referred to as a “state of siege”, which envisages a ban on gatherings and use of the military for police roles, along with other extensions of executive powers.

There was apparently a groundswell of opposition to the Moise regime. He became President in 2017, but in recent times faced widespread protests demanding his resignation.

Coups, political instability, widespread gang violence and natural disasters have plagued the country for decades and rendered it the poorest nation in the Americas, indeed in the Western hemisphere. Haiti has been a failed state under a decidedly failed leadership.

There has been widespread international condemnation of the assassination.

The UN Security Council, which is due to hold a closed-door meeting on the killing this week, issued a statement in which it made “an emphatic call on all political stakeholders to refrain from any acts of violence or incitement”.

The internal crisis is, therefore, deep-seated though it may have been overshadowed by the mayhem in the presidential palace in Port-au-Prince. Moïse’s tenure in office was rocky; as Head of State, he faced accusations of corruption and widespread demonstrations.

Tuesday’s bloodshed was ignited by worsening poverty and political unrest. The country is politically polarised amidst a growing humanitarian crisis caused by shortage of food, fears and widespread chaos.

Parliamentary elections should have been held in October 2019 but disputes have delayed them, implying that Moïse had been ruling by decree. In February this year, on the day the opposition wanted him to leave office, Moïse said an attempt to kill him and overthrow the government had been foiled.

Haiti has also faced a wave of gang violence and kidnappings, particularly in the capital, with several of its districts becoming no-go areas.